Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz of the day will be.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.80 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,470.30. The Dow Jones industrial average continued to build on its record highs. It gained 60.81 points, or 0.3 percent, to 21,891.12. The Nasdaq composite lost 26.55 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,348.12.
Benchmark U.S. crude added 46 cents to $50.17 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 13 cents to $52.65 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline rose 3 cents to $1.71 a gallon. Heating oil added 1 cent to $1.65 a gallon. Natural gas plunged 15 cents, or 5 percent, to $2.79 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Rates on US Treasury bills mixed at weekly auction -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction, with rates on three-month bills falling to their lowest level in two weeks while rates on six-month bills were unchanged. The Treasury Department auctioned $39 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.070 percent, down from 1.180 percent last week. Another $33 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.130 percent, unchanged from last week. The three-month rate was the lowest since three-month bills averaged 1.050 percent two weeks ago on July 17. The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,972.95 while a six-month bill sold for $9,942.87. That would equal an annualized rate of 1.088 percent for the three-month bills and 1.152 percent for the six-month bills. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, stood at 1.22 percent last Thursday, unchanged from the level at the end of the previous week.
SUBMIT PRO/CON ARGUMENTS FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT PROPOSITIONS - Arguments are being accepted for and against each of the four propositions that will be on the ballot in the City of Tucson General and Special Election on Nov. 7, 2017. Written arguments (300 words maximum) should be submitted to the City Clerk's Office by Wednesday, Aug. 9, at 5 p.m. Arguments will be included in the City of Tucson's publicity pamphlet for the election. The sponsor shall pay the City of Tucson $240 to offset a portion of the proportionate costs of the paper and printing of the argument. For a list of the propositions and the proper formatting of arguments, please follow the link below.
Summary of propositions and format on how to file arguments: https://bit.ly/2vYs3oP City Clerk's elections website: https://1.usa.gov/1Jw2Box
PIMA COUNTY COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS ROAD REPAIRS - The newly appointed Transportation Advisory Committee plans to hold its first meeting tomorrow. The committee’s role is to determine priorities for the dedicated 25-cent road repair primary property tax the Board of Supervisors approved with the fiscal year 2018 budget. The committee also will advise the board on the overall transportation budget, transportation infrastructure, capital improvements, and transportation policy. The Transportation Advisory Committee will meet tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the Abrams Public Health Center, 3950 S. Country Club Road.
SCOTT AVENUE STREETSCAPE PROJECT BEGINS - A three-month project to improve Scott Avenue between Pennington Street and Congress Street downtown is underway. Work began with utility improvements in advance of the streetscape work that includes new streetlights, sidewalks, and landscaping. Contractors for Southwest Gas currently are replacing an underground gas line on Scott Avenue. Southbound Scott Avenue from Pennington Street to Congress Street is closed. Northbound travel is open to allow motorists to access parking garages and businesses on Scott Avenue. Southwest Gas crews are scheduled to work Monday through Saturday, 6:30 a.m.-5 p.m. The gas line work should be finished in six weeks. Access to businesses in the project area will be maintained during the work. There are signs notifying motorists and pedestrians that businesses are open and accessible during the work.
Staples May Spin Off its Retail Chain to Office Depot “A merger between Staples and Office Depot may finally be in the cards — but it won’t be the kind that company brass had longed for, or that regulators had feared. Staples, which agreed a month ago to be acquired by private-equity firm Sycamore Partners for $6.9 billion, has also lately held talks to spin off its 1,500 retail stores to longtime rival Office Depot, sources told The Post.” (New York Post)
Should I Stay or Should I Go? How Renters Decide to Renew Leases “More apartment renters nationwide are choosing to renew their leases when they expire, rather than move out. That trend has been growing for more than five years. The question is where are renters more likely to stay in place? About 51% of apartment renters chose to stay at their current home during the past 12 months, according to research by RealPage, the parent company of Axiometrics, meaning that roughly 49 out of 100 renters chose to move out rather than renew.” (Forbes)
New York City’s Hotel Industry Links Airbnb to Terror in Harsh Ad “New York City’s hotel industry is set to deliver its harshest attack yet on Airbnb. An ad set to begin airing Monday raises security concerns about the popular home-sharing site, and even references the recent Manchester, England, bombing. It cites media coverage that bomber Salman Abedi used a short-term rental apartment he found through a local online real estate agent and had “massive packages” sent to him at that location — which was not an Airbnb unit.” (New York Daily News)
Newbie Activist Snow Park Urges Dillard’s to Lease Real Estate “The New York-based activist fund owns a 2% stake in Dillard's, according to a person familiar with the situation. The fund argues that Dillard's owned real estate worth about $200 a share, significantly more than the company's $83.35 a share price. The activist campaign launch gave the company's share price a bump of about 6% in pre-market trading Monday. According to a person familiar with the situation, Snow Park believes that other retailers, such as Dicks Sporting Goods, Nordstrom Rack, Burlington Stores or Ross Stores, would be happy pay for the use of the real estate.” (The Street)
Supermarkets Face a Growing Problem: Too Much Space “Never before in America has so much retail square footage been devoted to selling food—and it is too much. A massive build-out by retailers has left the country piled up with grocery shelves as consumers are shifting from big weekly shopping trips to more snacking and to-go meals. The mismatch has flattened retail sales and leaves the industry vulnerable to a wave of closures that some executives, bankers and industry experts think.” (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)
Lender Liability “When a landlord is implicated in a tenant–harassment case, it’s usually their name — and their name alone — that makes headlines. Such was the case with Raphael Toledano at 444 East 13th Street, where rent-stabilized tenants charged that the controversial broker-turned-landlord’s management company was bullying tenants into moving out to pave the way for rent increases.” (The Real Deal)
Millennials Want a Hotel Room That Looks Good on Instagram, Rather Than a Cheap One, Says HotelTonight CEO “A study by Internet Marketing Inc. found 97 percent of millennials will post on social media while traveling, with three-quarters posting once a day. Sixty percent were also willing to upgrade their travel, whether that meant early deplaning or purchasing Wi-Fi. Another study by Mintel showed travel was more important than paying student loans, buying a "big ticket" item or starting a family. The changes have become more important, especially because millennials really like to travel.” (CNBC)
Department Store Retailer Plans $40 Million Investment in Remodels, New Stores “Not all department store retailers are closing stores. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Belk said it plans to open three new stores, part of a nearly $40 million investment in store remodels, capital improvements and new store openings in 2017. The first two of the new stores will open on October 11, 2017, at Mullins Colony shopping center, Evans, Georgia, and at Greenwood Mall, Bowling Green, Kentucky. The third store will open in 2018, at Valley Mall Hagerstown, Maryland.” (Chain Store Age)
Real Estate Services Company Taps Advisory Firm for New Technologies “Real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield is tapping an advisory and investment firm focused on real-estate technology to spark innovations. MetaProp NYC will help Cushman find and evaluate new real-estate technologies, aiming to hasten the process of identifying ideas and companies beneficial to Cushman’s business, executives at both firms said. MetaProp runs accelerator and pre-accelerator programs for startups annually.” (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)
Who Would Be a Retail Broker Now? “No deal is too small for Max Swerdloff, a retail broker at Eastern Consolidated. He trawls social media and the web for the latest food trends, and reaches out to fashion e-tailers and restaurateurs, always in the hope his efforts will result in a lease deal. ‘I just love the process of deal making, I try to get my hands on any sized deal,’ said Swerdloff, who started as a broker in 2015.” (The Real Deal)